No native Spotify app for Apple TV 'any time soon,' company says

People with a fourth-generation Apple TV shouldn't expect a native Spotify app in the near future, according to a product owner with the company.

Supporting tvOS has been "down prioritized," Samuel Erdtman said in a GitHub discussion thread noticed byAppAdvice. "You should not expect a release supporting it any time soon. I'm sorry about that."

People who have Spotify on another Apple device can use AirPlay to stream audio, but a native app would allow for a convenient "lean-back" interface.

The lack of a tvOS app gives a slight edge to streaming rivals like Pandora, and of course Apple, which now has Apple Music support preloaded on Apple TVs.

Spotify may consider the Apple TV a relatively minor platform next to iOS, Android, and desktops however, and still enjoys a considerable lead over Apple in on-demand streaming. While Apple is already up to 17 million subscribers a little over a year after launch, Spotify has over 40 million Premium subscribers alone, and many more using its ad-based free tier.